Death and Taxes
Mark 12.13-17
Introduction
This past Wednesday was the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States of America and social media did not disappoint. Just like the inauguration of Donald Trump, and Barak Obama before him, half the Internet was rejoicing that this was the greatest day in the history of the world. The other half was lamenting that it was the worst day in the history of the world. Obviously neither is true. But people respond that way when their hope and identity is tied to politics.
We have idols that seek to captivate our hearts. Politics, money, lust; they all try to lure us to their faux “good life.” Some find their identity in politics. Whether it’s on the right or the left, their hope and meaning is in political ideology and systems. Some do it by burning the flag, some do it by waving the flag, but if politics takes the place of Christ, it is idolatry. Some find their identity in their sexuality. They center their meaning in how they’re sexually aroused. Others tie their identity to money. Their security is based on what the market did today. These idols are as old as time. But Jesus has come to show us a different way. Jesus uses a question about taxes to teach on identity.
On the surface this text might appear to be about taxes, but it’s actually about death. It’s about the death of Jesus and how that shapes our identity. Jesus is the king who is going to the cross; the two cannot be separated. Jesus’ exaltation is linked to his humiliation. Jesus is not merely king; he is the crucified and resurrected king. And as followers of Jesus we walk a cross-shaped path. The gospel of Jesus reigns over how we understand identity. Let’s work through the text and see how Jesus tells us who we are and where our hope lies.
The Things That Are Caesar’s
Remember we are in the last week of Jesus’ life. He made the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday in Mark 11. The next day on Monday he cleansed the Temple. And now we are in Tuesday of Holy Week where Jesus does a great deal of teaching. Two weeks ago Pastor Kevin preached Mark 12.1-12 where Christ spoke the parable against Israel’s leadership. And now they are forming a plan to eliminate Jesus.
Mark reveals the evil intentions of Jesus’ opponents in verse 13: And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. This sentence would have sounded strange to 1st century 2nd temple Jewish ears. The Pharisees were one of three groups that made up the Sanhedrin, the other two being the Sadducees and the scribes (which we’ll see challenge Jesus the next two weeks). They hated the Roman government and wanted Caesar overthrown. The Herodians were on the opposite end of the spectrum. They were followers of Herod who hated the Jewish establishment. These two would make Donald Trump and Joe Biden look like best friends. But as the adage goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Before they even ask the question we’re told that they’re insincere. They came to trap Jesus in his talk. Mark uses the word ἀγρεύω; it is a hapax legomenon, which means this is the only time in the New Testament it is used. It literally means to hunt or trap. Figuratively it means, “to acquire information about an error or fault, with the purpose of causing harm or trouble.” They’re trying to hunt Jesus down.
They begin with flattery, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God.” They’re saying, “Jesus, we know you speak the truth of God no matter what anyone thinks.” They’re using flattery to set him up to fall. It would be like Pastor Brett saying to Pastor Kevin, “Kev, you always tell the truth, tell Alex he’s ugly.”
Scripture forbids flattery as it does gossip; both are sins. Gossip is when you say something behind someone’s back that you wouldn’t say to their face. Flattery is when you say something to someone’s face that you wouldn’t say behind their back. May our yes be yes and our no, no.
The Pharisees and the Herodians flattered Jesus to set him up for this question: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not? The tax to Caesar was a royal tax. It was Rome’s way of saying, “you are honored enough to be conquered by Rome, now pay your tribute.” This was part of the deep divide between the two groups. The Pharisees did not want to support the Roman Empire and the Herodians did. And here they’re trying to politically trap Jesus.
You see, if Jesus said, “pay taxes to Caesar,” they would’ve used it to turn the people against Jesus. See he’s a Roman supporter; he doesn’t care about the people of God. But if Jesus said, “don’t pay taxes to Caesar,” they would’ve used it to bring him to the Romans as an insurrectionist. Their plan was fool proof.
But it wasn’t Jesus proof. Jesus knew their hypocrisy. Jesus is omniscient because he is God. He asks, “Why put me to the test?” He then commands them to bring him a denarius. A denarius was a coin worth about a day’s wage. Isn’t it ironic though that Jesus doesn’t even have one? He has to ask them to bring one to him.
He then asks, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” R.C. Sproul gives great historical insight into the coin Jesus would have been holding. I’m going to read directly from his commentary:
“At that time in Jewish history, the Caesar whose image appeared on the denarius was Tiberius, who reigned after Augustus, from AD 14 to 37. His image was pressed on the surface of the coin along with the inscription: Ti Caesar Divi Aug F Augustus, which meant, ‘Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus.’ On the reverse side of the coin was the inscription pontiff maxim, that is, ‘High Priest.’ The emperor was not only the supreme political ruler of the Roman Empire, he was the supreme religious leader, seen as deity.”
Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” Jesus says, “it has Caesar’s picture on it, give it to him.” The money in circulation with Caesar’s face on it was actually Caesar’s money. Rome circulated their own riches throughout their empire.
Oh how offensive this was to Israel. They believed themselves to be the special people of God. They were the people freed at the Exodus. We read this week in the Bible reading challenge about when Israel went into Assyrian captivity. But they would eventually come out of Exile at the time of Haggai and Zechariah. But now another foreign enemy occupied them. Caesar had no right to demand tax from them. Think of how much tax collectors were hated in the 1st century. Israel wanted freedom from Rome and Jesus tells them to pay their taxes.
We can struggle with the same thing, can’t we? As Christians we might wrestle with how we can pay taxes to a federal government that subsides abortion for example. But Jesus is speaking to a people occupied by a Roman government that would crucify people at their whim. They worshipped pagan idols with cult prostitution. The Emperor declared himself to be the son of god. Decades later they would feed Christians to lions for sport. And yet Jesus tells them to pay their taxes. Don’t buy the lie that things are getting worse in the world. Things have always been a mixture of good and evil. Jesus tells the church to pay their taxes to Rome and the same applies to us.
Romans 13 says that God has established government for a time. As citizens of the Unites States of America we are subject to the laws of the republic. If those laws command what Scripture condemns or condemn what Scripture commands then we must disobey those laws. But otherwise we are commanded to submit to whatever government we find over us.
The Things That Are God’s
But Jesus has come for more than worldly politics. Jesus says you’re wasting your time thinking about monopoly money and I’m talking about the riches of the Kingdom of God. Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and render unto God the things that are God’s. Jesus isn’t merely saying pay your taxes and give your tithe (though you should pay your taxes and you should tithe). Jesus is saying so much more than that.
And the clue is in his question. Jesus asks, “Whose likeness is this?” The word likeness is the Greek word εἰκὼν. It’s the same word used in the LXX when God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness (Gen 1.26).” Jesus is saying render to Caesar that which bears his likeness (taxes) and render to God that which bears his likeness. What bears the image of God? We do! The 4th question of the New City Catechism asks, “How and why did God create us?” The answer is, “God created us male and female, in his own image to glorify him.” People are made in the image of God.
Jesus doesn’t ask less of us than Caesar does; he asks so much more. The government can only demand of you what God allows as long as it conforms to God’s law. But God demands everything of us. So we must beware of falling into a baptized Gnosticism. There is no dichotomy between doing “Christian” things and secular things. All truth is God’s truth.
It’s not as if when you go to church you’re rendering to God and when you show up for jury duty you’re rendering to Caesar and everything else is neutral. There is no neutral. It’s not as if listening to music labeled “Christian” is more inherently holy than listening to Garth Brooks. Rendering to God means giving him our all. Everything we do from reading our bible, to playing with our kids, to loving our spouse, to working to enjoying a good glass of wine is all rendering to God the things that are God’s. God created us as physical creatures in his image. Don’t buy the lie that the spiritual is better than the physical. It comes with the hiss of the serpent.
Do you know what God demands of us above everything else? Sinless obedience and pure worship. That’s bad news. That’s bad news because we’re not just image bearers but we’re fallen image bearers. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3.23).
And if they would have responded, “We cannot possibly render unto God the things that are God’s. We are sinners. Our worship is poisoned by our rebellion. We are nothing but sin.” Jesus would have said, “I know. That’s why I came to live the sinless life you cannot and die the substitute’s death in your place. And I will raise on the third day to inaugurate the true and final Kingdom of God.” This good news is called the gospel. And if you will repent of your sin and trust in Jesus Christ alone you will be saved from God’s wrath against your sin and you will have citizenship in his new kingdom.
If you trust in him Jesus will give you a new identity. You will be in Christ. That means everything that is true of Jesus will be true of you. You are adopted into God’s family, dressed in the righteous garments of his only Son. When God looks at you he does not see a rebel but a perfect son. This is the beauty of the gospel of Jesus – everything that God demands he provides in Christ.
Christ gives an unshakable identity that politics, sexuality, and money cannot provide. Those things make excellent tools but they make terrible Gods. When has anyone ever had enough money? When have we ever had a savior on Capitol Hill? When has sexual desire ever died for the forgiveness of sin? Jim Carrey famously said, “I wish everyone could have everything they’ve ever wanted so that they can see that it’s not enough.” Jesus is the only one who’s ever enough. We will never have a savior on Capitol Hill but we do have a crucified and risen savior who sits at the right hand of the Father almighty and who will return to judge the living and the dead.
Conclusion
Where are you finding your identity this morning? What idols are reigning in your heart that the Spirit and the Word are confronting? Politics, either on the left or the right? Sexual identity? Money? Something else? You can’t just drop Jesus into whatever hope you’re actually clinging to like people are dropping Bernie Sanders into all of these different memes. Jesus demands our utter allegiance and anything less will send you to hell. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s. I pray that the gospel of Jesus shapes your loves because two things are for sure: taxes and death.